Global Arc

The ways in which individuals and societies define space and place is very revealing. The investigation of space and place-how cultures turn material, racial, and/or metaphysical settings into human landscapes defining home, neighborhood, and nation-is a deeply important optic that dramatizes social, racial, political, and religious factors. At the same time, it can be used to track the changes of these realities over time. Because of its unique mix of Jews, Christians, and Moors, medieval Iberia offers near laboratory conditions for the study of space and place in their racial, ethnic, literary, religious, and political identities.

This course focuses on one of the most renowned and influential Spanish poets of the 20th century--Federico García Lorca. We will examine Lorca's vast corpus of poems and plays to see how they combine experimental aesthetics and popular traditions. We will also study the readings and re-readings of "Lorca" as both an author and a mythical figure, standing for freedom, the defeated Spanish Republic, the historical avant-garde poetry, and gender politics.

This course explores the cultural productions surrounding narcos and cocaine in Colombia and Mexico, two countries whose imaginaries have become globally associated with drug trafficking. Beginning with the transformation of the coca leave into an illegal global commodity, passing through the emergence of the figure of the "sicario" in the 1980s, all the way to Netflix's 'Narcos' vision of the War on Drugs and cryptococaine, the course will engage critically with so-called narco-aesthetics in chronicles, movies, television series, short stories, podcasts, and art

This course examines masterworks produced during the Spanish Renaissance. Topics of discussion include the significance and influence of selected texts in the formation of modern literary genres (i.e., novel, drama, poetry) and how these works may be read as representations of the social changes and tensions of early modernity. We will also focus on the rise of imperial Spain and problematize the Crown's efforts in forging a Spanish identity that precluded minority groups, such as people of Jewish and Muslim lineages. Texts will be introduced alongside visual productions whenever relevant.

Poetry from the late 19th century to the Spanish Civil War, considering modernismo and the generations of '98 and '27 in relation to European symbolism and the avant-garde. One three hour seminar. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or equivalent.

This seminar focuses on the comparative study of Latino urban cultures in U.S., Caribbean and Spanish cities (mainly New York City, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Madrid). Topics include the 2008 Financial Crisis, Occupy-like movements, global migratory flows, popular culture, memory, debt, visuality and citizenship. Paying close attention to their political and cultural contexts, flamenco, hip-hop, graffiti, visual culture, poetry, documentary films and political performances will be analyzed. Guest speakers and musicians will be part of the conversation.

The starting point is the art show Radical Women: Latin American Art (Los Angeles, 2017). The exhibition reevaluates the contribution of Latin American, Latina, and Chicana women to contemporary art. "Poisonous Flowers" examines the productions of outstanding Latin American female whose work has challenged our understanding of politics and the arts and had significant impact on lives and histories in the region.

The junior seminar discusses major challenges to the study of culture, literature and society in Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries. Focusing on text and audiovisual materials, students will acquire methodological tools to develop their own independent research projects. Topics may include: identity, memory, democracy, visual arts, health, race, gender, migration, global cities, sustainability, climate change, citizenship, and digital humanities. It is co-taught in English, with sources in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Students are welcome to use any of the three languages in their written work.

Major themes, forms, and techniques in Latin American novels and short stories. Close analysis of texts by Borges, Rulfo, García Márquez, Bolaño, Vallejo, and others. Consideration will be given to historical contexts and contemporary ideological currents. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

An introduction to the major poets and poetic trends in modern Latin America and the Caribbean, with emphasis on Martí, Darío, Huidobro, Vallejo, Mistral, Neruda, Palés Matos, Borges, and Saer. Special attention also to the rich oral traditions represented by popular genres such as boleros, tango, nueva canción and rock, and particularly the work of Silvio Rodríguez, Violeta Parra, Rubén Blades, Tite Curet Alonso, and Charly García available in audio recordings or videos. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or equivalent.